Whilst reading through the latest budget proposals from the the City Council, I noticed that money had been allocated for the primary and secondary schools, planned to be built in the area, commonly known, as Manor Drive.

For the Primary School, the Council has allocated just under £7,000,000 between now and 2021, and for the Secondary School, they’ve allocated over £25,000,000.

You might remember that originally, the plan was for just one school on the site, but once the secondary school places shortage kicked in, the Tories at the Town Hall decided to include a secondary school at the location, which also mean nearly 280 affordable homes would no longer be built.

It also meant that the planned opening of the Primary School was delayed by a year.

I’ve now sent of a request for more information on this planned development, relating to aspects like who will be constructing the schools, designing them, naming them and of course pushing for road safety assurances.

As ever, I’d love to read your thoughts and comments on this matter, so please do post below!

Hence, why I asked ToryCouncillor Janet Goodwin, with significant expansion planned in the coming years at the Paston/Norwood reserve, what cultural, leisure or tourist facilities, local residents could expect to see introduced at the aforementioned location?

Cllr Goodwin responded, “…the council are currently undertaking a review of all leisure facilities including playing pitches and green space located in the city in order to build an evidence base for future development for which Paston and Norwood are included.

“The recommendations of this review will form part of the council‘s new active lifestyles strategy in partnership withSport England and will be managed by a board with representatives from across the city. With regard to culture and tourism, the council’s cultural strategy makes provision to expand cultural opportunities.”

I then pointed out that according to Council’s own core strategy policy CS18, ‘the council will encourage development of new cultural, leisure and tourist facilities that will meet the needs of the growing population particularly in the proposed new urban extensions of Great Haddon and Paston Reserve and Norwood.’

I then asked for some precise examples of what will be introduced to meet the needs of the growing population and the Paston and Norwood reserve.

Councillor Goodwin concluded by stating that until a review is carried out they “…won’t know exactly what the needs are and what we will be able to provide.”

So, it looks like under the Tories at the Town Hall, it’ll be another example of wait and see ………..coz that always works out, eh!?

Watching Tories at the Town Hall plan ahead for the future, is like ……….!

At the last meeting of Full Council, I stood up and raised the issue of speeding and road safety in and around Manor Drive, with the Conservative’s Cabinet Member for Growth, Planning, and Housing Development.

For the record, I regularly receive messages from local people who complain of a range of speeding and poor driving in the area.

Given the planned opening of a new primary and secondary school in the coming years at this location, plus further additional housing, I asked for assurances that relevant and required road safety measures would be introduced, and whether we could look forward to a 20mph speed limit, specifically around the planned location of the schools?

“The main spine road through Paston Reserve, Manor Drive, is subject to a 30mph restriction, as it will be for the remainder of it when fully built. Our highways officers will of course to monitor the traffic and the issues ongoing.”

So not exactly the greatest response! But that said, I’ll continue to formally raise the matter and push for action.

Suspect that the Tories know their time is coming to an end at the Town Hall, so hopefully when we get a change in administration, we’ll start seeing some much more proactive attitudes?

PS – Before I forget, thank YOU to all those residents who have taken the time to contact me on this matter and please do FEEL free to post a comment or view below!

Getting the Tories at the Town Hall to plan for future problems is never easy!